John: Regain consciousness
by amazingakita
Summary: Your name is JOHN EGBERT, and you're not sure where you are. Or what happened to Dave. In-game. Set about the 'John Egbert is missing' panel. (references to hammertime/johndave/pepicola. this is a sadstuck, with a character death)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: whoops. i really should focus on the twewy fic... anyway. this is based off an msparp chat. i had a bit too much fun tormenting the john. homestuck and all its characters belong to hussie. also, if you can think of a better summary, please tell me it.**

* * *

You open your eyes, and groan. The last thing you remember was... being kicked by Jade. Bugger. You look around.

"Where... am I?" you murmured to yourself. It was pitch black. You decide to get your phone out to use as a torch. Before you can start looking around anywhere, you notice pesterchum was flashing. You open it.

- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] -

TG: egbert

TG: dude

TG: john

TG: where are you

TG: come on

TG: answer

TG: ill start singing

TG: really

TG: you ready for this

TG: im taking a big breath

EB: dave!

TG: thank god egbert

TG: i dont have to sing

TG: where are you

EB: uh... well i don't know

TG: damn

TG: what can you see

EB: not much. just some walls. why?

TG: because no-one know where you are

TG: what colour walls

EB: is everyone worried?

TG: yes theyre worried

EB: and black walls. maybe a dark purple...

TG: cant you tell

EB: it's pitch black in here. i'm kinda scared...

TG: itll be fine dude

EB: you don't understand dave! i'm scared, its dark and i have no clue where i am!

TG: well at least youre not in danger right

As he read that, there's a creaking. Almost like a door opening and shutting.

EB: i don't know dave... i hear noises...

EB: dave there's something here with me...and it's not that far away

TG: itll be fine dude

EB: dave... please come find me...

TG: im trying

John pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped an arm round his legs.

EB: dave...

TG: what

EB: hurry... i think whatever is in here is getting closer

TG: im trying as hard as i can dude

TG: trust me

There's a loud crash off to your left. You jump.

EB: s-shit dave...

TG: itll be fine

EB: i think i'm in derse...

EB: but i'm not sure

TG: we guessed derse from the purple walls

TG: we split up

TG: derse is hella large

You gulp. You can hear the ...thing moving closer to you.

EB: gulps- ok

TG: well find you dude

EB: i hope...

TG: i promise

All of a sudden there's a low growl. You can actually feel their breath on your face.

EB: okay, dave. whatever it is.. it's in front of me...

TG: shiiit

EB: it's pitch black so I can't see it..

TG: stroke its face

EB: i'm not dying today ass

TG: damn

A thought occurs to you, and you feel your eyes widen.

EB: dave. w-what if its Jack Noir?

TG: cant be

TG: hes fighting bec blanc

EB: good

EB: i'm still taking no chances

TG: its not good dude

TG: cause you know who that leaves

EB: what?

EB: who?

He doesn't reply for a minute. You start to get worried.

TG: Lord English

EB: n-no...

You back against the wall, moving yourself away from the figure that's in the room with you.

EB: fuck dave i'm gonna die...

It takes about five minutes for him to reply this time. You really are starting to panic now. Did something happen to him?

TG: we all are

Well that wasn't what you were expecting.

EB: dave...don't you even care! i mean wha-

Your connection cuts out for a second.

TG: why should i

TG: i mean

TG: hes already here

EB: dav-

EB: help me da-

EB: FUCKING HE-

You hate your phone sometimes.

TG: i cant

TG: im sorry

You feel tears running down your cheeks.

EB: why not!

The next thing Dave says doesn't sound like him at all. More like... a robot.

TG: a knight must serve his lord

EB: w-what? dave what are you saying?

TG: hͩ́͊͢͏̲̫̺̫͝ê̵̢̱̼̼̩̦̰̥̤̽ͦͤ̏̃͋̾ͅlͨ̈͊̅̋͞҉͔̬p̅͊̅̓̃̅͛̌͏͎͖̺̬̣ m̥̱̘̱͍̱̱̖̦̝̞̭͔̭͉̮̄̈́̾̿̽̒̄ͦ̂̒̑̕͟e̵̹̩̹͕̻͚̔ͭ̓͌ͧ́̍̿́ ̶̵̧̝̹̥̝̐ͭ̓̔̃̍͛́ͪͩ̎͑̉̽͒ͥeͣͦ͐͂͆̉͌̿̊ͣ͠҉҉͚̰̱͓̜͍̰̞̲̙͖̲̦̲̱̖̭g͋̇ͣ̓͒̈́̽ͩ͋̆̂̇ͭ̚͏̷̞̮͚̝͍͙̪̖̣́͜͞b̢̡̗͕̭̘͎̅̋͌̋̂͜͡͡ę̜̹͇̫̣̠͇̰̱̱̰̣̖͇͙͓̲̊ͣ̈́̿ͬ̈́̂͂̇́̍͊̑̋́̕͜ṟ̴̶̢̡̧̤̪̹̏̍ͦ̓̀̃̅̍̆͋̈́̃t̊͐͒ͤͧ͌ͮ̈́ͩ͏̩̥͖̜͔͇͚̪̲̯̭̰̩̫̲̖̲̯͚͠

What was that? It sounded like someone talking through static...

TG: do you not remeber the feudal system dude

TG: lords have lots of knights

TG: who in turn have pages

TG: basically

TG: j̟͉̰͓̾̐ͭ̓͂̚͝o͓͔̥̱̗̟̥̬͐̔̅͑͜͞h͔̣̞̦̳̫͖̄̆̂̃̎ͧ̓̀̕͢n̨̝̦̻̦̲̫͍͇̓̃̆ ̢̲͈̠̫͈͓̺̾͛͘r̵̡͍̥̤̝̠̖͉̬̈̒̈͆ͣͯ͌̑u̘̽͊͒̆̏̎ͯͬ͝n̴̴͚̼̲̍̓ͨ͌

TG: your shit

TG: is wrecked

Your connection cuts out and you panic. This definitely isn't Dave. There was the static again. A bit clearer this time... The thought is quickly pushed out of your head with worry for Dave. Was he being controlled by the batterwitch? No... You stare at the last few messages. Suddenly, it all clicks in your brain. Dave was a knight. He was being controlled by Lord English. You didn't quite get the comment about pages though... You stand up and start to search for a door. You definitely heard one earlier. You fumble about in the dark for a minute. You hand brushes against... some cloth? Oh shit. You forgot something was in here with you. It slams you against the wall and chuckles. You frown. It sounds familiar...?

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" They say. You gasp in astonishment. You'd recognise that voice anywhere.

"D-dave?" you manage to croak out.

"Jackpot." He drags you out the room, into a brightly lit corridor. His face is blank. Not like his normal poker-face blank, but like he never had emotions, and never will. You can't do much but stare at him. His face switches to a completely different expression.

"R͆ͯ̈́́̒҉̻̗̟͔͚̥̱u̪̙̙̬̾͑͌͐̂͌ͬ̊̈n̡̢͎̝̫̩̺͇͓͋ͦ̂ͮ̄̂͑ͅ,̧͉̣̩̖̦͇̘͗ͨ͟ ̶̙̱͖̞̻̰͔̅̇̈́ͨͩͤ͟͢J͑ͧ̅͏͔̪̯͘o̠̥͚̞̝̪̐̋ͩ̀͆̔̓h͍̙͎̪̠̙̰̐n̶̼͈̦̖͐̓̐ͤ̒́͐͒" Your jaw drops. Dave's fighting against Lord English's control. That's what the static was!You scramble away from him as his face flickers back. He doesn't seem aware that Dave was fighting back. You need to name them so you don't get confused... Lord English's Dave... LED... You snort out loud, and in return get an odd look from Dave, and a punch in the nose. You swear profusely. Dave grabs the base of your godtier hood, and pulls you down the corridor. You struggle.  
"Let go of me, Dave!" He swings you into a wall, and pins you up by the shoulders.

"Now why should I do that?" You want to revise your earlier thought. LED apparently can have emotions showing on his face, because at this moment he was grinning creepily. It was a smile worthy of any paedophile. Or a serial killer.

"Because I'm your friend! Your best bro!" His face flickers for a second, then he laughs. You can tell it's still LED at the moment. This was one of the best evil laughs you've ever heard. You had to give him points for that.

"Doesn't matter. You shouldn't be alive. None of us should!" You really don't like this pessimistic Dave. You struggle, trying to get free.

"Dave, please, just let me go!"

"No." His face flickers. "D͚͚̑̔̆̕͟͜o̗̣͚͕͗ͦ̎̂́̾̓ ̲̟̤̝͖̦̹͔͇͑̉ͤ͊͆̃͌̚͢t̶̹̠͇̰̓ͮ̅́h̩͚̰̮̳̟̦͔̏͆̃ͩ̒̊̾ͅę͓̰͔̬̥̝̼ͪ̈́ͦ͡ ̰̄ͨ̈ͮ́͘͟ẇ̹͈͚̱̩̣̞̩̰ͪỉ͍̙̺̤̎͗͋͌͛͜͢ņ̛̱̻͖̬̠̾̒ͩ̐ͪ̅̇̓͢ͅͅd̈́͏̜͓y̛̱̲̠̪̌͗̌ͩ ̺̦͎͉̏͐ͯ̍̃̀t̡͎͕̫͎͎̗̹̼̤̂̇̓͒̎͑ͪ̑ͥh̴̾ͯ͘͜ͅi̷̱̗͖͚̮̐̄ͮ̿̍n̴̬̪͚͖̻̲ͥ͂̐ͦͦͥ͠͡ģ̷̥͙̓͐ͭͧ̄" You wonder why you hadn't thought of that before. You do the windy thing, and disperse into the air for a couple of seconds. You reappear outside. Wow, Derse is really purple. You land, and start to wander around. Almost immediately, a shadow falls on you. You immediately jump into the air, and float about 6 feet away from Dave. It was a good thing too, because now you'd have a sword in your head if you had stayed there. You are freaking out now. You really don't want to fight him. He starts walking towards you, sword nearly touching the floor. You float backwards.

"Stay back, Dave." You have your hands out in front of you, as if it's really going to stop him. His face flickers, and he pauses.

"G͎̥͓̝̾͑ͩͭͧͨe̹͖̻̻̠̓̑͂̋ẗ̳́̍ͨ̈͛̒̓ ̢̖̍̌ͤ̾ͮo̳̮ͩ͛ͨ́̌̏͞u̳̩̳ͫ̔́͆̅̉̚t̘̹͉͉̞̭̮̎̓ͦͭͫ ̧͔̖́̽ͤȯ͓̻̖̈́̐ͧͨf̷̮̺̮̙̗͖͎̓̎̓ ͤ͏̣͉̲h͑͛̅̏̀eͩrͯͣ҉e̮̽͗̊ͫ͐,̼̱̻̯̪̌̿̓͗̑͛͡ ̀͋̅ͣ҉̘̥̦̠͎͓J̷̫̏͒ͮ̉o̤̗̹̞͈͛̋͒ͤḣ̢̬͊͋ͮͥͥn̵͈.ͩ̋͏̪ ͎̣͈̝̹̪̇̕Ẉ͈͎͕̋̂ͭ͟ȧ̴̭̤̣̥̊͆ͯͦr̸̅̂̔͒n̝̣͊ͫ͑ͭ ̹̞̤̎ͣ̒e̢͚͕̥̻̱͛v̗͉̬̂͊̑͌͢e̶͍͙̼̼̮̳̼̾̔̾r̒ͮ͂͘y̑̌̾o̜͉ͮn̾̐e͎̼̥ͮ!̎̒" You shake your head, as you feel tears threaten to fall from your eyes.

"No, Dave. Not without you." He continues forwards again, a sneer on his face.

"You're a sap. A sentimental, idiotic sap. Which is why you're going to die." The words hurt more than you thought they would. He punches you in the nose. Again. That hurt more than the words. You moan in pain, and feel a tear fall down your face. Dave laughs. An actual, honest-to-god laugh.

"I'm happy as I am. A hell of a lot happier than I was before."

"Why are you happy? For hurting your best friend?" you manage to ask shakily. Dave grins and shakes his head.

"I found my purpose."  
"To kill me?"  
"No. To do as my Lord wills. Will you accept Lord English as your Lord and saviour too?" You almost laugh there. Almost.

"I'll die before I do anything for that prick." The grin on Dave's face seems too wide to be natural.

"That can be arranged." You freeze.

"No. No no no." You see Dave's expression change from the grin, to one of pure terror.

"F̮̠͖̖̯̟͑ͦ̌̈̂̂͌̚U̧̮̦̹ͨ̈́̋͊ͣ̉C̴̩̦̯̟̺͋͛͢K͇̯̻̦̙̫̈̾̾̊ͬͤͥ͑́͘ͅÍ͎̯̻̻̭̥̜̳̳̍ͯ̉ͭ͟N̢̛̙̳̣̗̻̱ͬ̕G̑̅ͬ̆҉̵͔͕̕ ̵ͧͫͩ͋̍ͥ͒͏̸̩̼̝̳̪̩̫R̸̢͕̼͚̥̜̺̒̽ͥ̎̾͂̊̐͘ͅȔ͚̣͙̊̽̋ͫ̄͊͡N̰͈̖̭̙ͩ͆͑͒ͦͭ̈̚ͅ ̛̹̳̤̹̦͈̼̈͆̉͞E̲̣̝͓͍̦̠̱̍̕͢G̗͈͕̋̿̈ͮ͂ͩ̐́B̳̪̻͚͎͇̳̫̜̏̋ͪͣ͌̔̑̌̀͜Ë̡̲̙̝͓̘͍̝̲ͩͬͬ̑ͯͩ̉̓R̷̺͓̙̗̼͆̒͒̍͝T̤͓̎" You do. You fly up and out of Derse. You really didn't want to leave Dave behind, but what was the other option? Fight him? You couldn't do that. Join him? And betray Jade, Rose, Karkat, everyone? No. Die? ...You really didn't want to do that. You might not have come back. A chuckle interrupts your thoughts.

"You forgot, didn't you Egbert? All godtiers can fly." You turn and look behind you. Dave, in his godtier clothes. Fuuuuuuuuck. You speed up. You notice that he doesn't. Once you get a fair distance away, you make a large sphere of air round you. Like a tornado, but harder to get through. And without gaps at the top and bottom. Sometimes, you're glad that you couldn't do much in the three years but practice with the wind. You hear Dave call from outside it.

"How long do you think you can keep that up?"

"As long as it takes!" Well... About a couple more minutes. But that's all you need. You calm yourself down by taking a huge breath through your nose and... Ok, that wasn't the best idea. You take a huge breath, _through your mouth this time, yes, good egbert_, and manage to calm yourself down slightly. You get rid of the sphere, and blast Dave with the full force of the wind. He crashes through the roof of the place you started out in. You wince slightly in sympathy, then fly closer. You must have knocked him out for a few seconds, because he's only just getting up. You stop, hovering a good half a mile above his head.

"That wasn't nice. Hurting your best bro like that." he yells up to you.

"You're not my best bro." You stare at each other for half a minute. You hear a very faint "P̶̹̩͍͆̏̓̓̓͜͞l̶̗̊̋ͤ̌͘ẹ̲̯̤̙̲͊̀͌̽ͩ͝a̺̠̳̳͍͌ͯ̾͌̓ͧ͜͢s̿̓̀͆̆ͯ̋̑҉̡̝̲̠̤̟̲͕̞͈ė͍̖̦̝̖̲̋̋͠ͅ,̷̨͙͉ͣ ̴̨̖̝̤̳̣̹͉̆͌̊̋J̰͈͚͇̠͚͙͓ͫ͗͆̓͛ͣo̵̴͖̬͉̣ͨ̚ȟ̢̢̪̞͊̈́̌ͪ͆̏ͯń̘̭̺̪̰͙̺̈́̿̊̿̓̃͗̕.̝̗̘̫͔͚͉͗̽̈́͑͌ͫͤ̑ ͙ͯͣ̂ͩ̊͞J̪̮͍͕͓̤̞͋̌̌͠u̓ͥ̈́̍ͧ̚͡҉̱s̢͈̑ͪͣͤ́̾͝͝t̮͇̆ͫ̍̄͜͡ ̷͖̙̖ͫ̓̌ͣ͂̋l̛͍̭̜̬̘̋ͣͅě̛͚̖̟͖̱͖ͩͬͅͅa͓͈͍͂ͯͮ̈͒̍̚v͍̬͔̳͗̑̄ͫͅe̴̡̲̙̔͐̓.̰͕̫͖̮͉̱ͩ̐̀͘ͅ" Of course, you don't. Instead you fold your arms, and float lower.

"I want a real fight." You call, much cockier than you feel. You see him raise an eyebrow.

"A _real_ fight? So is that one where you get your ass beaten quickly, or slowly?" You shake your head.

"My ass will stay unbeaten. Yours, on the other hand..." Dave snorts. You see his face flicker again. This time he looks incredibly sad.

"I̤̫̞͒͐̈͘ ̹̤̲́ͮ̓̿͟͠͡d̶̨̛͖̪̫̞̈́ͨó̮͉̭̦̫̱͂ͦ̋̕͠ͅñ̖̰̤̯̥̠̺̙ͭ̏ͨͤ̿̀'̓ͮ͗̈́͆̂̓͆̏́͠҉͈̼̹̘͍̫ṯ͕̜̦͔̪̼̿ͨ̒̃ͤ̌͊̆ ̨̨͙̮̏ͥ̓̇ͬ̃͘w̢̯͕̟͙͓͎͇̤̓̓̓ͬ͜ą̵̝̮̗̓̃ͥn̵͈͚͆̈t̡̜̆̈́̉͂ͮ͛ ̗ͬ̑̂t̨̛̖̤́̔ͤ̍̾̏ͩ͢ö̢͓̳̳ͤ̊ͮ͑͆̂ ̭̖͓̘̫̥̳̝͐ͤ̾͂̅͑ͥ͢hͮ̎҉͕̬̭̲̬̱́u̯̙ͫ̂ͦ̔ͮ͝r̮͍͊ͭ̊̾ͧt̟̰͓̻̝̂͌ ̒͠͏͍͈͞y̧̤̫̙̫̩̎͊̅ͯ͑̍͋̀̈ỏ̆̂ͩ̈́͗͏̟͔̫̻̠̘͖ù̝̳̼̘͈̰͎̳̳̓̀͑͝,̛̫̣͈̦͇̗̟͐͆ͅ ̬͕̥̘̹̳̳͂̒ͯ̓̀́͡J̥̘̖̀͛̌͘ȯ̵̳̪̠̖͙̬̦ͧ̑͐͌̓͌̀͡͞h̨̯̭͓̰̼͓͔̪̃ͤ͗ͩͮͪ̑ͣn̰̜͔̥͎͓̗̋ͭ͗ͭͨ̋.̮̺̠̣͙̟̬̠͈̈̾̿̏ͣ.̸̭͈̜̤̘̗̲̰̒̽̌.̢̩͇̺ͤ̓ͤ̓"

"I also hated all your raps."

"Well, fuck you."

"W̶̝̺͆̋̅ͤ͋́̑͑͞͠ẹ̵͈̣͚̘͔̯͑̍̎ͬ͋͂ͬ́ḻ̛̞͖͙̦̼̳͙̯̈͆ͯͧͬͥͪ̽́̚l̲̯̐̃̏ͩ̒,̈̃͗̑ͬ̒ͩ̈ͩ͢͏̱̙͍̙̞͈̙ ͇̖̼͓͙͔͈̚̕f̡͙̯̗ͭ̒ͧͮͫͩ̄͐ͩ̀͠u͚̪͕͓̲̭̣͎̰ͭ͒̽̊̓͆̌́̚͟ċ̠̺͚̼̩̝ͥ̒̐̆ͭ̉̚͢͝k͕͇ͦ̓̑͟͡͞ ̛͚͈̻̤̪͓͈̈́̋̊ͧ͂́̚͠y̱̹̱̦ͨͩ́ó̷̧̱̬͕ͩͦ̽̆̈̎ȗ̞͖̖͖̀ͩ̂.̛̆̂͛̉̃̑͊͒҉҉͉̙͓̣̙" They say it simultaneously. It's quite a disturbing effect. You shake your head, and look down.

"I'm sorry, Dave. I can't do this any more."

"Do what?" Dave seems rather interested. I suppose Lord English never really cared who went with whom...

"I'm..." You take a deep breath … "breaking up with you." You feel tears drip off your nose. Dave looked shocked, then his face flickers to... wait. Is he crying?

"I͑͏͓̭̹͚͙͇̥͖'̫͚ͣͮͣ̿͋m̷̜̲͔̖͌̌͊̄̈ͥ ̯̘ͣ̽̏́r̪͎̰̟͙͇̥̀ͫ͑͋ͭ́̎̀́͢e̬͓͚̣̤͈̗̟͐̓̾́͜ͅa̡̠̝̓ͨ̔̓ͨ̇͜l̥̩͈̻͓̲̖͆̑͋́̅ ̷̷̡̖̫ͯs̸̵̹̭̰͚̹͎̙̦̏ͫͯ͑ͧ̐̌͟o̪͙̘̱ͥ͛ͪ͘r̡̢̟͔͎̟̖̲ͪ̽̏ͮͬr̬̱ͫ͑ͭ̑͆ͨͪ̊͌͘ỷ̷ͭͪͬ͆ͧ̈̇̚҉͉̦͉̙̜̟̰ ̴̯̱̪͙̻̲̾ͯ̄̉̊͜͢d̗͑̿͠u̱͕̾̐d̨͙͎̳̠̺̅̉͒̌ē̬̲͗͋.̣̯͈̯̜̣̔ͩͣ̐̚͝ͅ" His face flickers back to a sneer.

"I'm better off without you. You were always a dead-weight, bringing me down." The words sting. You know it's not Dave. It isn't Dave. _It isn't Dave_. You close your eyes and clench your fists.

"Ḯ̴̡̡̤̣̝̩͉̠̯̫̱̲̥̻̈̋̄͑͐̊ͤ̋͟͝ ̨̨̜͍͎̤͓͎̭̠̩̪̜͖̲̫̜͚̙͚͌ͦ̽ͥ͑̂̚l̨̦̞̮̞͖̏̒̐̎̈́̑̏̔ͯͦ͑ͬ̓̃̌ͧͥ́͝ǫ̓͊̀̊̾͞͞҉̱̠͍̼̟̗̹̗̩̗v̨̢̧͚̥̯̤͖͍͇̩̺̠̼̬͎̙̳̳̼ͬ͆ͬ̃̒͛̋͊ͨ͆ͭ͆̕e̷̷̢̮̮̦̮͇̘̪̯̪̖̻̬̤̳͇̹̫ͩͦ̀̐̏ͤ͞ͅ ̴̢̗͚̯̦̣͚͊ͦ̓̀̀͟y̠̬͔̭̬͓̯̣̩̱͈̿͋̐ͥ̔͟͢͝ò̌ͩ̑̚҉̷̶̶̟̞̦̭͓̺̬͔̲̙̹̀û̵̵̡̳͖̙̥̲͈͉̓̋̀̆̎́͞.̶̧̝̖͓̲̘̲̤̤̓̔ͥ͒͒̾̑͌͊͌ͤ͂̍̆́͞"Your eyes fly open. That was Dave. You know it. Except when you look at him, he's not there anymore.

"Ha! why would I need some weakling like you. You know, I used to be jealous that you got so much power straight off. But now... Now I have more than you could ever imagine! And I love it." The last bit was practically snarled.

You gather a small, but powerful, ball of wind in your hands, like a miniature version of the sphere you were in earlier.

"I'm really sorry, Dave." You see his face flicker.

"P̈́͊̑̊̈̽͗͂҉͖̳l̨̰̱͖̹̮̦ͯ̊̽e̼͚̭͈͎̰̗̺͎ͯͫͥa̼̠̠̖ͭ͂̈̂̀ṡͨ͌̏̈́̃ͥ҉̘̬̺͙̱͠ę̵̻͉̜͗ͯͤͪ͂̉̔͠.̶̰̓ͫ̓ͬ̎ͬ̈́̾̀͡ ̸̤̥̅ͩ̿͌͜S͛̍̏͆ͯ͒ͥ͝҉̩̩̳͎͉͕ͅt̓̇̓ͤ͌ͤ҉̱̘o̶̻̝̘͕͖̘̯̊ͦ̀͜p̹̣̀͋̐̀ͥ͑̍̇͢͠ ̮̺̱̟͖͓̦̘͍͛͗̕m͍̰̞ͦ͝͠e̺̫̥̦͍̰̒̏̆̈́́ͣ́.͙̲̤̝̲̱̲̈́ͯͯ͐̀̋̉͝͝" You don't get a chance to reply before he flies at you. You throw the ball at his head. It hits him in the middle of his face, and throws him into a wall. You land near him. He's unconscious long enough for you to see the damage you did. He has a massive gash on his forehead, and quite a few scratches on the rest of him. Ironically, you think his nose is fine. You snort, and instantly regret it, as your brain sends a wave of pain through your nose in protest. Dave stirs.

"Dave?" you ask hopefully. They're immediately shattered when he grins at you. The creepy smile is made creepier by the fact that his teeth are covered in blood. He chuckles.

"Was that really all you had? Pitiful. I don't understand why I was jealous." He stands up, and swipes his sword at you. You leap backwards, so instead of getting a sword lodged in your shoulder, you have have a gash across your chest. It isn't bleeding that badly, thank god. Dave is standing in front of you. He swings his sword at you again. You use the wind as a shield, deflecting the sword. He's off balance. You push at him with the wind. He falls over, dropping his sword. You grab it up, and hold it at his neck. He grins at you, with the awful, blood-stained grin.

"Go on then. Do it." You stand there. "I told you. I warned you that you were too chicken. Can't even stab your own boyfriend. Well, ex now, isn't it?" He chuckles. You stare into his eyes. "Weak. Feeble. Worthless." This isn't Dave. This _isn't _Dave_. This is __**NOT DAVE**__._

"I'm really sorry, Dave. I love you." You're crying. You move the sword over his heart, and push. You keep pushing, through the skin, past the ribs, piercing the heart and out the other side, the sword traveling all the way to the ground. You let go of the sword, and collapse next to him, tears streaming down your face. _Just like his bro_ you think. God, that was morbid. You clutch his hand. He squeezes your hand weakly. You almost jump out of your skin, before you remember something from a biology lesson in school. _3 minutes till the brain dies from lack of oxygen_. You have three minutes left together. Probably more like two now.

"I love you, Dave." You can't think of anything else to say. Your tears are falling onto the ground. Onto his ripped clothing. Onto his skin.

"I love you too, John. Always have, Always will." You start to cry harder at this. You lean down and kiss him. As you pull back, you hear him exhale your name. Then he stops breathing. Stops moving. You're frozen. Then you're screaming. And sobbing. You curl up into a ball next to him, still holding his hand. That's how Rose finds you, god knows how much later. Crying. Blood-stained. Holding his hand.

* * *

**there's a second half (not as good as this) if you want it.**


	2. Chapter 2

_(She pulls you away. You're dimly aware that she's talking to you. However, you think you might have gone into shock. You don't blame yourself. You just killed your boyfriend. Oh god. You're about to cry harder again. You make a high pitched noise. Some part of your brain tells you that's called keening. It's what some people do after the death of a loved one. The noise doesn't last long. No more than a second, before you're sobbing again. Rose puts her arm round your shoulder. She's crying too. Why did you kill him? Why didn't you do something else? __**Anything **__else? The logical part of your brain tells you that he would have killed you. Then anyone else that Lord English wanted. You're in Rose's house. When did that happen? You look around, starting to come out of the stupor you were in.)  
_  
"Rose?" you call out tentatively. She walks out the kitchen, two cups in her hands. She gives one to you. You take it and sip it. Some sort of tea. You lean back and sigh. Rose is looking at you expectantly. Did she ask you something? You shake your head to focus yourself.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Do you feel up to talking about ...it?" You nearly choke on your tea.

"I... I'll try." You start off ok, telling her about the odd messages from pesterchum, to him being the one in there with you. You manage to tell her about how Dave fought the control with your voice only slightly cracking. You skip over some of the insults that were said, and it was him that broke your nose. You only have to pause a few times when telling her of the fight. But at the end... You just can't get the words out. You can't tell her how it was _you _that stabbed him. How it's _your_ fault he's not here. The lump in your throat just won't let you talk. You see Rose offer you a tissue. You realise you're crying again. You take one and wipe you eyes. She says something like how it wasn't your fault he's dead, wasn't you that stabbed him. You just look down at the last statement. Tears drip onto the sofa, onto the carpet (_onto his skin_). She inhales sharply.

"Oh... Oh, _John_." You look up slightly startled. There was no malice in the words. No hate like you expected, (_like you deserved_), only pity. She comes and sits next to you, and hugs you. This doesn't help the tears. They just flow. And flow. And don't stop flowing. _Why won't they __**stop**_. You feel something drip onto you head. Rose's tears. You've never seen Rose cry before now. Before you... killed him. Stabbed him through the chest. Oh god. You murdered your boyfriend. You might have said the last bit out loud, as Rose is now rubbing your back, telling you it's not your fault. You manage to stop crying, and smile shakily for Rose. You don't believe her. She can tell, but doesn't say anything. For that, you're grateful. When you get out of here, you're going to need a therapist. You chuckle slightly at the thought of explaining the game to a therapist, trying to convince them it's real. Rose gives you an odd look. You explain. She smiles too, then tells you that before the game she wanted to be a psychologist. You smile.

"So, when I need my problems analyzing, all I need to do is call Ms. Lalonde. She won't think I'm mad when I talk about the game." She grins. A knock on the door interrupts them. Rose stands up and walks over and opens it. Karkat barges in, Terezi trailing behind.

"WHY THE EVERLIVING FUCK DO I HAVE DAVE PESTERING THE SHIT OUT OF ME, ASKING TO GET JOHN ONLINE?" You stare blankly at him. Rose looks at Terezi.

"H3'S B33N P3ST3R1NG M3 TOO." You can feel yourself start to crack. Rose makes a subtle gesture to Terezi, somehow conveying that Terezi should use her powers as a seer of mind on John. She does. And pales rather quickly. She gets her phone out and starts typing furiously. Karkat is looking bewildered.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? WILL ONE OF YOU NOOKSUCKERS EXPLAIN?" No-one replies. Rose and Terezi are pestering Dave. You are just staring at the wall. _Dave's... not dead?_ You feel hope flutter in your chest, before it's quickly crushed by a random memory _A just death requires that they deserved to be killed, for example through becoming corrupted and being slain by a hero_. You bury you face in your hands (_leave a gap for your nose, yes well done john_) as tears start to fall silently. Terezi notices (_she's got good eyesight for a blind person. wait. didn't dave say something about her getting her eyesight back?_) and shepherds a protesting Karkat outside. You hear him shouting for an explanation. Rose sits next to you and wraps an arm round your shoulders. You lean gratefully against her. She hands you a tissue. You wipe your eyes, blow your nose, remember that Dave broke your nose and have new tears spring into your eyes, wipes your eyes to get rid of the new tears and ask her if it's possible. She shrugs and says we should hope so. You remind her of of the fact that she's a seer. She tells you that Dave's future is clouded. You sit slowly up after a few minutes and take your phone out your pocket. Rose watches you. You start pestering Dave.

- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] -

EB: dave?

TG: oh thank god dude

TG: why havent you been replying

TG: is everything ok?

EB: yeah! sorry i just got distracted...

TG: so i think I found where you were...

TG: but it looks like youve escaped

EB: huh?

EB: oh yeah!

EB: i'm with rose!

TG: jooohn

TG: why didnt you tell me

EB: uh...

EB: i forgot?

TG: ...

TG: egbert

TG: really?

TG: jfc dude

TG: are you ok?

EB: i'm fine!

EB: how're you?

TG: much better now that I know youre alive

TG: where are you?

EB: rose's

TG: ill be there soon

You take a deep breath and smile shakily. You spend the next half hour pacing about the place. The door opens. Dave pokes his head round, knocking as he does.

"Dave!" you yell and fly into his arms. Literally flying, you're that happy. He stumbles backwards slightly and hugs you back .

"Hey John." He nuzzles his face into your neck. "I'm so glad you're ok." You kiss him on the cheek, tears falling from your eyes. He brushes the tears away with his thumb.

"You ok?" You nod unable to speak and pull him close again. He whispers something in your ear.

"A̶̵͕̘̦̾ͨ ̡̜̆ͪͥͫ̔ͮ̚̚̚k̬̻ͬͫͮͭͩͩ̂̿̀͠n͔̼͍̦͍͎͖͊͊̀́i̘͕̟ͬͨ͒̎̚͢g̨͉͇͚̠̦̞̓̀̒͆ͮẖ̸̸̥̦̲̱̰̗͈̠̊ͯ̅ͫ̑̐t̙̻̫̝͓ͥ͑ͪ ̺̮̥͇̼̦͙͖̤̃ͮ̐͘͟_a̰̘͕̥̞̅͒̒͆́́l̶̏̈̑ͯ͋ͯͯͫ҉̩̟̣w̡̹͓̲̭ͬ̉͂ͩͧͪ͡ͅä̠̇̏̎̑͗ͅy̐͆͆̒̊ͩ̑̀̚҉̼͔͚́s͔̭͇̪͖̦̺͗̉_ ͈͎̬͔̝̟̯̼̉ͦ̅ͦ̊̑̈ͯ͗s̷̛̫̠̜͚̒ͭ͒ͩ͂͋́͗ͧę̷̛̗͍̦͙͈̤̟̓̊̌̎̃̐r̭̱̗̐̔̑̽̽̓ͣ͗̈͜ͅv̫̍͂͂ͥͥȩ͇̰̬̜͇̻͓͑s̵̨̘̲̦͇̙̥̬̟̝̋̋́̋͜ ̡͓̠͊̐ͯ̊ͣͣͥ̅hͯͨ̔̃̀҉̧̥̳̬į͓̜̳̣͈͒̅ͦͮ͗ͦͥ̚s̴͕̫̪͉̻͈͎̮͋̊̑͒̓̌͊̈ͯ́ ̶̴̡̲̩̳̯͓̹̳̣̾̇̒̊l͒ͨ̓̿͊ͭ̇͏͎̦̣̼͠͝ͅo̸̺̖̠̓͘r̴͔̬͕͖͈͍̝̆̏̚d̻̼͕͚̎͌̔̔̚"

* * *

**AN: before you spam me hate about how he shouldn't revive, i think the fact that he wasn't corrupt when he died mean he can come back. (also, i like this story so i want it to carry on) and i found an incomplete version of the original death. no i'm not going to post it, it made me cry just reading it. ****_that's what i saved you from_****.**


	3. Chapter 3

You freeze. Your mind goes blank. All you can hear is the creepy message playing over and over and over again in your head. You feel Dave's hand on your shoulder. You flinch involuntarily. He's asking you something. You're not entirely sure what. You just shake your head, push past him and jump into the air. You hear him calling your name. Coming after you. You look back at him. He's following behind you. (_You forgot, didn't you Egbert? All godtiers can fly._) You panic and do the windy thing. As you disperse into the air, you hear him calling out your name. He sounds sad. Heartbroken.

You re-appear on LOWAS, in your bedroom, and collapse on your bed. You curl up in a ball, and try not to cry. You fail at that. You sniffle. And remember why you were being careful about your nose. Ouch. You touch it lightly and wince. You probably need to sort it out. You stand up carefully and walk to the bathroom. You steady yourself on the sink and look in the mirror. And holy shit there's someone behind you. You spin round. It's Dave. Bugger.

"Uh... Hey, Dave?" He folds his arms.

"Hey Egbert." He pauses. "What happened to your nose?"

"...It got punched."

"By who?"

"Uh..."

"Egbert..."

"It doesn't matter."

"They hit you."

"It doesn't _matter_."

"In the nose! It matters John!" You turn round and clutch the edge of sink. Dave puts a hand on your shoulder. You stare at your white knuckles.

"At least let me sort it Clean it up and everything."

"...Fine."

"Where's your first aid kit?"

"Kitchen." Dave pauses for a second, then he goes down to the kitchen. You take a breath (_well done through your mouth this time_) and walk down to the kitchen. Dave's found the first aid kit and is looking through it. You stand next to him. He glances up at you and smiles. You smile back. He pats the kitchen counter.

"Hop up then." You lift yourself onto the counter. He opens up an antiseptic wipe and starts wiping carefully. You wince occasionally. Eventually he puts down the wipe.

"This bit is going to hurt like a bitch. Probably as much as the original hit did." Suddenly he jolts your nose into place. You swear. Probably more fluently than Dave was expecting you to.

"Wow, Egbert. Move your hands a second." He puts a bandage on your nose.

"Where'd you get that anyway? I'm pretty sure we only have plasters and gauze in there..."

"Bro was a great believer in teaching through giving you a good reason to learn."

"He broke your nose?"

"I broke his actually. It was an accident!"

"Ha! I bet he wasn't happy."

"Picked me up by the back of my neck and carried me down to the kitchen and gave me a first aid lesson."

"How old were you?"

"About 12. I think."

"Heh. So I'm all fixed up now?"

"Well, you should probably fix the front of your top. Wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea now would we?" You concentrate and fix your top.

"So how long will I have this on my nose?" You reach up a hand to touch it. Dave snatches it out the air.

"Don't touch it, don't put too much pressure on it, and it should be fine in a few weeks." You grin.

"U̻̳̦͚̮̙̝ͭ̈́̔̑̔̌̚n̛̙̪̗̖͉̙͋ͬ̂̎́ͅͅt̢̡͈̗̟̬̔ͭ̈̐̈ͅi̛̜̱̯͌́ͣͦ̄̋̉͢l̬̱̲͚̅͛̄̍ ̵̢̞̖̮̩͉̫̣̓̓̌͋̇ͪ̽͢I̴ͣ̃̃ͪ̒҉̨̣͔̺ ̨̞̠͗ͫͤ͟p͎̪̲͕̠̽̇̽ͩ̄͒̅u͆̂͠҉̰̩̮̻̠͡n̶̩̣̫͍͈̹͍ͫ̍̌̂͘ͅc̟̞̯̈́ͦ̐͗ͧ͋͞ḫ̭̰̲̘̝̙͗͘͘ ̛̜̯͚̞̗̫̹̊ͫ̂̕i̮͇̣ͦͫ̍ͪͭ̋̃̇͠t̛̘͍̺͖̹̱͕͛͗ͣͅ ͚̘̺̽ͩ͠ả̷͉̞̜̍͊g̟͙̖̱̦͔̦͙̓̈́͑ͬ̏ͫͧͤ͡ǎ̮̲̎͌i͚̘̠̱ͥ̂̒͞͡n͌̑ͮ̔ͣ҉͏̰̯̠̠̬̙̙̳ " And that smile is now frozen on your face as a grimace. Woo freakin' hoo. You slide off the counter and get a glass.

"So no sloppy John/Dave makeout sessions?" Your hands are shaking as you fill the glass up with water. Dave walks over and slips his arms round your waist, resting his chin on your shoulder.

"Only careful ones till that pretty little nose of yours is healed." You take a sip. Jegus, your hands need to calm down. Dave takes the glass out of your hands and sets it on the side. He kisses your neck and intertwines his hands with yours.

"God, you're shaking like a hyperactive junkie dosed up on caffeine. Where's your coffee, Egbert. I warned you. I told you about your dangerous addiction." He's rambling. He's nervous. You kiss him on the cheek.

"I'm fine Dave. Don't worry." You yawn. He chuckles.

"Let's get you off to bed. I know a perfect one we can go to."

"Oh yeah? Where's that?"

"S͊̌͏̡͎̙̹̳̤̤̻͟i̬̳̙̘ͯ̅̾ͯͅx̛̯̗͖͕͔̭ͯ̾̂̄ ̏̐҉̩͕̪̖͓̞f̥͖̠̗̎̈͜͜͡e̙͉͍͔͓͂̓ͪ͛͛͌ͭe͕̦̣̘̥ͧ̔ͯ̉̌ͨţ̮̖̘͕̣̦̞̊͜͝ ̴̛̺̫̾̈͛̍̉̂u̸͖̼̤͖̰̹̬̱͐̒͆͑̊͒n̳̜̙̘ͯ̊̓̋ͭ̄̽́d̴̞̦̹̠̙̫̦̜̿̂̓̈̐̂̍ͮͦ́͞e̾̊̓̈́ͬ̾̔ͦ҉̢̛̯ͅr̸̢̙͇͍̱̲͓ͧͣ̽̍̔̑ͭ͂͘.̱̣̥̫ͭ͒̀ͥ̇ͣ͊͊ " You freeze. Fuuuuuuuuck.

"My one. Think you'll last the ride there? Hey now why'd you get all tense?" You force yourself to relax.

"Your bed sounds good. Shall we go?" He nods, but doesn't let go of your waist. You sigh and start walking. Once you get outside you immediately hop into the air and hold your hand out to Dave. He grins and takes your hand. You zoom up to the ring that leads to his land.

"Pchooooo!" You say with a giggle. Dave chuckles and leads you to his room. You collapse on his bed, sprawling your arms and legs everywhere. Dave shoves you onto your side and climbs under the covers. You roll over and pout at him. He flashes a grin at you and lifts the covers up. You crawl in and snuggle up to him, mindful of your nose. He wraps his arms round you. You yawn, and close your eyes.

"Night Dave." You mumble at him.

"Sleep tight John." You feel him taking your glasses off. Just as you're about to fall unconscious, he adds.

"D̴̥̗̦̪ͨ̐͌̐ͫͫ̄́͜oͦ̀ͣ̎̊ͫ̐̓͏̶̧̼ṋ̷̰̭ͦ̑̈͌ͤ͗͑͠'͂͆̄̏̐̇̀͏̧͔̰t̵̶̸͖̭ͨͮ̉̒ͨ ̎͋ͪ̀̐̀̚҉̜̟̯̘͖̟̦̲ͅl̹̥͍̬͓̭͛ͥ̉e̴̟̬̮͐ͭ̿͘t̟̻͖͌͑̋̔ͪͧ̈́ͪ̕ ̸̛͆ͧ҉̭̱̜ͅL̸̰͇͋̀̌̽͛͆̿ͧͯ͢o̞̖͖̽̌̑ͩ̓ͥͧ̓̓͘r̦̻͍̮̿ͯ̇ͥ̉̋͘d̯̥̜̠̖ͭͧͪ ̵̛̮̥́̍ͨ̅̒E̠̠̪̫͋̄̍̌̀ͤ̌̕n̴̡̨͕͓̪̏͛͆ͮ͆g̨̻ͦ̉̇͐̊̈́̉͗l̪͍̄ͧ̐ͧͬͧ͞i̵̶̤̲̱̮̾͌͐ͨͤ͂ͅs͐͊҉̴͈͈̬̳̲͟ḩ̭͚͖͕̻̹ͣ̅͒̽ͩ͜͡ ̵̠͕̮͍͎͍̘̭̀̈̒̈́̿̋b̧̩͉͈̣̯̹̈̂̉̆ỉ͙͗̌̿͌ͬͯt͚̦͆͆̄ͫ͊͑ͧ͘ȩ͙̲̮͖̭͚͍͆̈́͐̐.̇ͮ̐̔̉ͮ͏̵̟͙͎ " You are going to have nightmares over that voice, you can tell.

* * *

**AN: i really have too much fun crushing my own heart don't i...**


	4. Chapter 4

You're pointing a sword at Dave. And laughing. And laughing. And then you stab him. Again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again, until all his blood has stopped flowing. You haven't stopped laughing once. You're not in hysterics though. You're just having fun. Lots and lots of fun. _Why not share this fun with everyone else?_ a voice whispers in your ear. So you do. With Jade and Rose and a kid with triangle shades and one that looks like a young nanna and one with pink eyes and finally one that looked like a male Jade. Blood is flowing everywhere. But there's no-one left to share it with... _What about yourself...?_ the voice whispers again. You like this voice. It's got lots of ideas. You stab and slice at yourself marvelling at the fountains you can make. Eventually though everything goes black...

And suddenly you get all the pain. So much of it. The pain you gave to everyone is now yours to feel. It's unbearable. You try and move, but it just hurts more. You hear a noise. You realise it's you. Shit. You feel something wrap itself around you. You try and squirm away from it, but it just holds you in place. You hear something. It's... music? The pain's receeding now. You try and follow the music. It's really familiar. You blink, and holy shit that's a bright light. You squint at it, and it comes into focus. It's the top of Dave's head. You blink a couple more times. It was a dream. You're awake now. Dave's awake too. He's holding you tight and humming. Oh. That explains a lot. The tune he's humming... It sounds like... That piano tune your dad taught you years ago. You snuggle up to Dave. He kisses you on the top of your head.

"Morning."

"Morning." Your voice is all croaky. Ugh.

"Bad dream?" You nod. He rubs your back. You feel your stomach grumble. Dave obviously hears it too if his chuckle is anything to go by.

"I'll make breakfast." You cling to him.

"But I don't want to moooooooove. I'm comfy."

"You don't have to move. Just stop being a limpet."

"Nope."

"John."

"Dave." He sighs and roll onto his side, facing away from you. You go and wrap your arms round his neck, and kiss him on the cheek. You see him grin triumphantly. Uh oh. He pins your arms where they are and quickly stands up. You squeak, and wrap your legs round Dave's waist. He lets you readjust your grip and then walks to the kitchen, you still on his back. He pulls out eggs, milk, flour and bacon. You rest you chin on his shoulder and watch. He mixes some of the milk, flour and couple of eggs together, and puts the batter to one side. He then scrambles two eggs together and puts that in the microwave. He grabs a grill pan and a frying pan, lays the bacon on the grill pan and sticks it under the grill. Into the frying pan he pours some of the batter. The microwave beeps. He gets the eggs out and mixes them a bit more before putting them back in the microwave but not starting it yet. He flips the pancake, and checks on the bacon. You've always enjoyed watching him cook. He's much better than you'd think. Apparently Bro taught him how to be a 'little domestic waifu' for the sheer hell of it. And probably because he didn't want to cook. Dave taps you on the forehead.

"Breakfast is served." You untangle yourself from his back and sit at the table. He places a plate with pancakes, bacon and scrambled egg in front of you.

"Dave."

"Mmph?"

"Did you seriously try and make these look like Nic Cage?" He grins at you.

"It worked then." You scowl at him.

"You know what I think of him now."

"Uh huh. The right thing." You stab at your plate.

"You know what would make this better?" you ask.

"Y̦̞͑ͦ̓͂͢o͊͋̔̍҉̩͉͢u̷̹̥̹̲͓̼̠̯̅ͥ͐̚ͅr͌͐ͯ͗̃͐ͩ҉̗̰̪̞͚͖ ̒̉́ͤ͒ͤ̐͛͒҉̘͍̪̜̩̮̟̰b̬̹̤̓͊̑͂̊̈͋́̕l̾͒̌̈́̌͋̃ͫ҉̩̼̲̰̰̞͔̱͟o̪̹̟̟̪ͮͩ́̆o̫͔̱̎ͨ̉̌ͦ͑͐̓͑͜ḋ̨̟͖͖̞ͪͫ " And boom there goes your appetite. You mumble something along the lines of 'if I didn't need the loo' and hurry to the bathroom. On the way you snag your phone. You see someone was trying to pester you. Rose. You open it up.

- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] -

TT: John.

TT: John.

TT: John, are you ok? You left in a hurry. What's up?

TT: John, please answer. Dave's going frantic with worry.

TT: He's going out to look for you now. Starting on your planet. You'd better have a good excuse ready.

TT: He found you. I can only guess what happened to your nose from what you told me.

TT: Pester me when you next find your phone.

EB: rose?

EB: you still there?

TT: John, how good to hear from you.

EB: ...is that sarcasm?

TT: No.

EB: o...kay.

EB: anyway why did you want me to pester you?

TT: You left in a hurry yesterday. I wanted to make sure you were ok.

EB: i'm fine!

TT: Dave was blaming himself for you leaving

EB: it wasn't his fault...

TT: Hmm. There are many things I can infer from that. The first one is that Lord English's voice is still there.

EB: ...yeah. it is.

TT: It said something to you.

EB: it did.

TT: What made you do the windy thing?

EB: i panicked.

TT: Because he flew after you... He said something about flying while you were fighting.

EB: uh huh.

EB: i don't want to go into detail though.

TT: Fine by me. Dave is pestering me, asking about you.

EB: don't tell him please!

TT: Calm down John. I wasn't going to. From what I hear, the voice came back... twice?

EB: four times.

EB: when he was setting my nose.

EB: before he took me to his.

EB: as i was about to fall asleep

EB: and just now.

TT: Hmm. May I enquire as to what he said?

EB: yes.

TT: What did he say?

EB: threatened to break my nose, i don't want to say, don't let lord english bite, and i'd rather not tell you the last one either.

TT: Thank you.

No-one says anything for a couple of seconds.

TT: Dave's worried about you.

EB: he is?

TT: You keep running away from him. He's scared he's saying the wrong things.

EB: but...

TT: But?

EB: ...'m scared too

TT: Right.

TT: So don't tell him yet. Just go to him. Be with him.

EB: but what if the voice comes back?

TT: Ignore it. It can't do anything. It has as much power over his body as Dave did in Derse.

EB: ...thanks rose.

TT: For what?

EB: reassuring me.

EB: being a good friend.

TT: No problem, John.

TT: Now go. And don't forget to flush the toilet.

The last message leaves you stumped for a second, before you remember your excuse to Dave. You actually do kinda have to pee, so you shove your phone in a pocket and relieve yourself. You flush the loo, wash your hands and walk back to the kitchen. Dave's sitting there, plate half empty, phone out. He looks up as you walk back in, and smiles at you. You grin back slightly, sit down in front of your food, and try and make yourself eat some of it. Luckily it's still slightly warm, and you manage a couple of mouthfuls. Dave's watching you, still texting occasionally. You put another forkful in your mouth. Dave sighs and puts his phone away. You glance up at him inquisitively.

"Rose." he says and stabs at his plate. You carry on eating. It's quiet, apart from the chink of metal on china for a few more minutes. You push your plate away when you've cleared about three-quarters of it. Dave looks up, finishing the last of his eggs up. You lean back in your chair and watch.

"Not hungry any more?" You shake your head. He looks at you for a second, shrugs to himself and picks your plate up, taking it to the sink. He turns the taps on, puts the plug in and squirts some washing up liquid in. You stand up, walk over to him and wrap your arms around him. He wraps an arm round your shoulders and pulls you close. You bury your head into his side, being careful of your nose. He rubs your shoulder. You turn your head to watch him wash up one handed. He's surprisingly good at it. You stay like that until he's finished. He leans down and presses a kiss to your forehead.

"Come on Egbert. Rose wants to talk."

"About what?"

"What we do next, I guess"

"Alright. Let's go." You take hold of his hand and walk up to the roof You pull the door open, and quickly shut it again.

"Wha-"

"Gazillions of imps."

"You ready to fight?" You get your hammer out and nod.

"Let's do this." He throws open the door. You hadn't realised quite how many imps there actually were. You smash one on the head, then gather a few up in a ball of air and smash them together. Dave's timestepping, so there's a few of him dotted around the roof. You jump in the air, smack an ogre, and giggle when you give it a ridiculous hat. Never gets old. Dave's finished off the rest of the ones on the roof and is collecting the grist. You hit the ogre again and it explodes into grist. You swoop down and collect the grist before it falls down to LOHAC. Dave's waiting on the rooftop for you.

"Race you."

"You're on."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Go!" You both race up to the ring. You're pushing yourself forwards and Dave backwards with the wind. You think he's slowing down your time too. Or speeding up turn into the wind and reappear by Rose's ring. You pull a face at Dave, and see him wave a hand at you. Next thing you know, Dave's head is sticking out the ring and telling you to hurry up. You roll your eyes and dive in. Dave's waiting for you on the other side. You fly together into the living room. Rose is there, along with Karkat, Terezi and the mayor. You land on a sofa, and Dave sits next to you. Rose smiles at both of you and starts talking.

"We've reached the alpha version of the game..." You kinda tune her out. And definitely don't doze off on Dave's shoulder. Nope. Not at all. Dave definitely doesn't have to shake you awake. Not once. You don't blearily ask what you missed either, and Dave doesn't reply with Ỵ̗̯̝̟̹̝̍̒̎ͦͫo̢̻̥̩ͯ̊u̗̜̙̮̇rͬͨ͘ ̞̗̰̩͓̬̉̔ͦ̈́̚d͖ͤ͐͂̌̍̅̓o̖̣͎͚͎͔͊̂̏̃̕w̠̤͈͙͊ͫͫͮ͝n̋̎̊͌͛fͪ̓͏̘̫̠a̜̐͜l͋͛͑̈́l̠̮̳̓̋ͨ̎. Oh. You're quite awake now. It's silent. Everyone's looking at Dave. Well, you're looking down, Rose is looking at you, Dave is confused and the mayor is raiding Rose's cupboards for cans. So that's Karkat and Terezi staring at him.

"WHAT THE FUCK STRIDER. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK." Karkat seems to be preparing a full length rant, but is interrupted by a pillow to the face, courtesy of Terezi. Dave's looking very confused.

"I suddenly understand jack everything. I completely understand what's going on here. Completely and utterly." he pauses for a couple of seconds.

"I was being sarcastic. Someone please explain what's going on." He looks round.

"ASK SOM3ON3 3LS3."

"WOULD I HAVE FUCKING ASKED IF I KNEW."

"I don't know everything." He looks at you. You look away, to Rose. She smiles slightly at you. You sigh.

"It was you." you say quietly.

"What?"

"My nose. You did it." Before he gets a chance to interrupt you start to spill the story out. All of it. Without stopping. You even tell them about stabbing Dave. You don't realise tears are falling till Dave wipes them away. You pause for a second to scrub at your face, then tell them about how the voice came back. You stop talking. Silence. You wipe the rest of your tears off your face. Suddenly, an arm wraps itself round your shoulders. You look up into the face of the mayor. He grins at you. You smile shakingly at him. You do kinda feel better for spilling. Apparently the mayor's move was a catalyst. Rose was hugging you. And Terezi. Even Karkat hugged you briefly. You manage to worm a hand out to Dave, and wrap your hand round his. You squeeze it and rub the back with your thumb. Everyone disentangles themselves, and you shuffle closer t o Dave. He wraps an arm absent-mindedly round your shoulder. You snuggle up to him, and try to pay attention to Rose. Try to. Dave is obviously thinking about your story. Everyone glances at you occasionally. Eventually Rose stops talking. You make a mental note to pester her later, asking what went on. You nudge Dave.

"It's over, Dave." He blinks a couple of times. You think anyway, his ever-present shades are, as the name suggests, in place on his face.

"Hmm?"

"Rose has stopped talking. We can go now. We're free! And no socks involved."

"No Egbert. Just no." He stands up, shaking his head. You grin and jump up.

"It was worth a try."

"No. It wasn't."

"Aww." You follow Dave outside. He's quiet for a moment.

"...John?"

"Yeah, Dave?"

"..."

"Dave?" He turns to face you.

"I̡͈̬̠̭͚͉̭̋̈ͧ̚ ̨̥͕ͧͣ̓̃h̛͍̮͋͛aͪ͆̒̍̑̃v͓̱͙͔̩͎̒̄͆͛̾ͮe̼̗͓̜̠͎̿͗́ ̜̥͗̅ͤ̉m̶̗͓͎̹̈́ͭ͑ͯo͇̐ͧͥ́r̲̯̼̫ͯͤ͌̎ͤ̚e̲̬͈̙͒͗ͫͭ ͎͚̖̋͟c̷̹͓̙͈̲̹̮̑͒͑̆ͩo̻̣͓̖̟͟n̘͘t̢͙͕̳̗̤ͭ̾̋̊̒̾͛r͈o̭̱̝͙ͫ͋̏l͕ͪͥ͌͛͗̐ͮ ͙͚̘̠̺̈ͧ̉͆͘ͅt̤̲̹̘̱̺̫̅͘h͒̀҉̱͍̠͉̖̳ͅa̼̠͖ͥͭ̎̀͞n̲̩͉͓̙͓̆̓͑́͡ ҉y͍̗͇̺ͣ́o̦̱͑̀͐̊ͯ̄̾uͬ̂͒ͪ̃̌ ̰͈t̽ͤ͒͘h͖̰́ͯ̆ͦͥi̇̽ͅn͔̳͙̝̟̣̞̎k̙͎̊̉ͣ̀̈́͐.̡̣͓̣̼ͣ̊̄͐̅̆ͤ" Shit. Shit. Shiiiiiiiit. You take a step backwards. Dave claps a hand over his mouth. You hear him say a muffled

"What. The. Fuck. What the actual fuck. Is that what's been happening? Fuck. Fuck. Jegus." from behind his hand. You step closer to him again.

"You... You heard that one?" He nods, hand still in place.

"Why?" He shrugs, and peels his hand off of his mouth.

"Shit, Egbert." You walk over and take his hand in yours.

"It's going to be okay."

"How do you figure?"

"...There are alternate mes mourning the loss of their boyfriend. There are alternate mes that have been killed by LED-"

"LED?"

"Uh... Lord English's... Dave..."

"...Oh."

"There are alternate yous that are still under Lord English's control. Undoubtedly, there are timelines where this hasn't happened, and won't, but at least we still have each other, right?"

"Yeah..." You lean up and kiss him on the cheek.

"It will be fine."


End file.
